Leighanne Zyril Santos August 3, 2018

BSA11KA2 Assignment #2

Theories of Emotion
Canon-Bard
The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion, also known as the Thalamic theory of emotion, is a
physiological explanation of emotion developed by Walter Cannon and Philip Bard. Cannon-Bard theory
states that we feel emotions and experience physiological reactions such as sweating, trembling, and
muscle tension simultaneously. The main concepts of the Cannon–Bard theory are that emotional
expression results from the function of hypothalamic structures, and emotional feeling results from
stimulations of the dorsal thalamus. The physiological changes and subjective feeling of an emotion in
response to a stimulus are separate and independent; arousal does not have to occur before the
emotion. Thus, the thalamic region is attributed a major role in this theory of emotion.

More specifically, it is suggested that emotions result when the thalamus sends a message to
the brain in response to a stimulus, resulting in a physiological reaction. For example, seeing a snake
might prompt both the feeling of fear (an emotional response) and a racing heartbeat (a physical
reaction). Cannon-Bard suggests that both of these reactions occur simultaneously and independently.
In other words, the physical reaction isn’t dependent on the emotional reaction, and vice versa.

According to the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion, we react to a stimulus and experience the
associated emotion at the same time. For example, imagine that you are walking to your car through a
darkened parking garage. You hear the sounds of footsteps trailing behind you, and spot a shadowy
figure slowly following you as you make your way to your car. According to the Cannon-Bard theory of
emotion, you will experience feelings of fear and physical reaction at the same time. You will begin to
feel fearful, and your heart will begin to race. You rush to your car, lock the doors behind you and rush
out of the parking garage to head home.

When a triggering event occurs, the thalamus might send signals to the amygdala. The amygdala
is responsible for processing strong emotions, such as fear, pleasure, or anger. It might also send signals
to the cerebral cortex, which controls conscious thought. Signals sent from the thalamus to the
autonomic nervous system and skeletal muscles control physical reactions. These include sweating,
shaking, or tense muscles. Sometimes the Cannon-Bard theory is referred to as the thalamic theory of
emotion.

The Cannon-Bard theory differs from other theories of emotion such as the James-Lange theory
of emotion, which argues that physiological responses occur first and result and are the cause of
emotions. A dominant theory of emotion of Cannon's time was the James–Lange theory of emotion, and
Cannon recognized that to test this theory, an examination of emotional expression with no visceral
afferent feedback was required. This was necessary because the link between visceral changes and the
feedback required to stimulate cerebral manifestations of an emotion would no longer be present. To
do so, Cannon experimented with severing afferent nerves of the sympathetic branch of the autonomic
nervous system in cats. Cannon compiled his experimental results in 1915, then refined and expanded
them, and finally proposed his model of emotion as a challenge and alternative to the James–Lange
theory of emotion.

James Lange
The James–Lange theory refers to a hypothesis on the origin and nature of emotions and is one
of the earliest theories of emotion within modern psychology. It was developed independently by two
19th-century scholars, William James and Carl Lange. The basic premise of the theory is that
physiological arousal instigates the experience of emotion.

Both James and Lange proffer the same point that emotions are results of physiological
reactions to external events. James’ research gave more attention to emotion as a consequence of a
physiological change, while Lange’s theory emphasized emotion as the demonstration of a physiological
change. Nevertheless, both scientists presented the idea that emotion does not start with conscious
experience of an affect.

The James-Lange theory of emotion states that emotion is equivalent to the range of
physiological arousal caused by external events. The two scientists suggested that for someone to feel
emotion, he/she must first experience bodily responses such as increased respiration, increased heart
rate, or sweaty hands. Once this physiological response is recognized, then the person can say that
he/she feels the emotion.

People experience situations and events that result in physiological reactions such as muscular
tension, heart rate increase, perspiration, dryness of the mouth, and many others, which are created by
the autonomic nervous system. The James Lange theory of emotion suggests that emotions are a result
of these physiological responses, and not their cause.

When stimuli that can induce emotions are received and comprehended by the cortex of the
brain, the visceral organs and the skeletal muscles are triggered by the autonomic nervous system and
somatic nervous system, respectively. The autonomic and somatic systems will then stimulate the brain,
which will be interpreted as an experience of emotion.

The James-Lange theory inverted the typical common-sense way of thinking about the cause
and effect relation between the experience of emotion and its manifestation. James and Lange
emphasized that the autonomic activity and actions that are induced by emotional stimuli generate the
feeling of emotion, not the other way around.

An example of this theory is when you are walking in the woods and you stumble upon a bear.
Your heart begins to race and you notice that you are trembling. Thus, you conclude, you must be
frightened.

Schacther-Singer
 The Schachter-Singer theory of emotion was developed by Stanley Schachter and Jerome E.
Singer. According to this theory, the element of reasoning plays an important role in how we experience
emotions. The two-factor theory of emotion, states that emotion is based on two factors: physiological
arousal and cognitive label. According to the theory, when an emotion is felt, a physiological arousal
occurs and the person uses the immediate environment to search for emotional cues to label the
physiological arousal. This can sometimes cause misinterpretations of emotions based on the body's
physiological state. When the brain does not know why it feels an emotion it relies on external
stimulation for cues on how to label the emotion.

Schachter and Singer felt that physical arousal played a primary in emotions. However, they
suggested that this arousal was the same for a wide variety of emotions, so physical arousal alone could
not be responsible for emotional responses. The two-factor theory of emotion focuses on the
interaction between physical arousal and how we cognitively label that arousal. In other words, simply
feeling arousal is not enough; we also must identify the arousal in order to feel the emotion.

For example, imagine you are alone in a dark parking lot walking toward your car. A strange man
suddenly emerges from a nearby row of trees and rapidly approaches. The sequence that follows,
according to the two-factor theory, would be much like this: I see a strange man walking toward me; My
heart is racing and I am trembling; My rapid heart rate and trembling are caused by fear; I am
frightened!

The process begins with the stimulus (the strange man), which is followed by the physical
arousal (rapid heartbeat and trembling). Added to this is the cognitive label (associating the physical
reactions to fear), which is immediately followed by the conscious experience of the emotion (fear).

The immediate environment plays an important role in how physical responses are identified
and labeled. In the example above, the dark, lonely setting and the sudden presence of an ominous
stranger contributes to the identification of the emotion as fear. What would happen if you were
walking toward your car on a bright sunny day and an elderly woman began to approach you? Rather
than feeling fear, you might interpret your physical response as something like curiosity or concern if the
woman seemed to be in need of assistance.
 Sources

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https://www.verywellmind.com/the-two-factor-theory-of-emotion-2795718.

Cherry, K. (2018, May). Understanding the Canon-Bard Theory of Emotion. Retrieved from
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-cannon-bard-theory-2794965.

Fournier, G. (2018, August). James-Lange Theory. Retrieved from

https://psychcentral.com/encyclopedia/james-lange-theory/.

James-Lange Theory. (2018, July). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James

%E2%80%93Lange_theory.

Legg, T. (2017). What is the Canon-Bard Theory of Emotion. Retrieved from

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Psychological Notes HS. (2017, May). Theories of Emotion in Psychology. Retrieved from
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